Garage door



Aug. 24, 1943. w. D. FERRIS "Er AL 2,327,778

GARAGE DOOR V Filed Feb. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 m1 a j 2 EA V J0 3B 7J 1 J9 Bi 37 9 .31

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GARAGE DOOR V Filed Feb. 5, 1941 3 Shee ts-Shet 2 V .10 1! 30 J3 J 1:;

Aug? 1943- w. D. FERRIS ETAL 2,327,778

GARAGE DOOR Fil ed Feb. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 J0 v 9 I 1 INVENTORs.Fer/fags Patented Aug. 24, 1943 UN ITED STATES FATENT FFI'CE v GARAGEDoor. William in. Ferris and Cecil E. Wolf, steerin 9111.;1 Birdie D.Ferris, executrix of said William D. Ferris, deceased, assignors toFrantz Manufactusing 00., Sterling, 111., a corporation of IllinoisApplication February 5, 1941, Serial No. 377,498

11 Claims.

This invention relates to garage doors, and more particularly to thosethat are composed of horizontal sections which are hinged together attheir meeting edges and which move upwardly in unison and thenhorizontalls overhead to the open position or the door.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved construction and arrangement whereby a door of this papticula-r character is more easily operated and is more free from anyvaction that would cause jolting and jarring in the opening and closingthereof.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a doorconstruction wherein the doors are inhinged sections and include meansoperating along a track under the impulsion of a spring for opening thedoor, wherein the'track mechanism is of tubular construction and thespring is housed within the track mechanism whereby the tubular trackserves a plurality of functions, such as serving as a guard for the sring, as'wel'l as supplying an anchor for the spring, therebyeliminating the necessity of brackets and other spring accessories whichtend to clutter up the garage or other housing chamber. Furthermore, bymeans of this construction the spring is supported along its entirelength whereby as the d'ooris opened the weight of the spring is notadded to the pull of the spring-which ordinarily would result in toomuch power being applied'near the final opening movemen-t.Fnr-"thermore, by the utilization of this construction the spring actsas a check or brake upon the door, to stop its forward movement withoutimparting a rebound as the door reaches its fully open position.

Another object is to provide an improved form of track section betweenthe vertical tracks at the sides of the doorway and the horizontal oroverhead tracks, in' order'to improve the action of the door in the;opening and closing movement thereof. 7

In addition, one object of the invention is to provide an improved formof, overhead. or horizontal-ly disposed tracks for supporting the weightof the door in. its open position and.

which are adapted to enclose the coil springs that assist in the openingof the door.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing a tubular trackalong which roller means on the door sections are adapted to roll,

in combination with an elongated spring housed within the tubular trackand connected to'fithe door sections so as to causethe door se tions tobe guided by "and rolledalong said track.

Yet another object of the invention resides in "the details ofconstruction of the tubiilar track \vh'ereloy it terms not dnlf; 'agnidewav forthe rollers carried by the door sections, but also wherebyit provides a housing for the spring means which raises the doorsections.

Yet another "object or the invention resides in the construction of thetiiloiilar track so as to'no't only house the elongated power springmeansfor the door, but also whereby the track provides means Ioranchoring the "spring means adjustably thereto, and also provides meansfor moiinting the door buffer means thereon.

To the foregoing and other useful endsgthe invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompany ingdrawings, in which- A Fig. '1 is a vertical section of a garage doorembodying the principles of the invention, showing the same in itsvertical or closed position and showing portions of the garage buildingalso in "section;

Fig. :2 is a similar view showing" the upper most section of the doorunlatched and moving into an inclined position inside the blli'l'dlrig.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the uppermost section "open'to agreater degree,

4 is a similar view showing the door in its raised and overhead openposition.

Fig. Eris a longitudinal section of the tubular track in which eachlifting spring is'enclosed; showing a portion of the spring thuscontained in the track. N

Fig. '6 is a'view similar to Figs. '1, 2 and "3, but showing. theuppermost section of the door tilted entirely over into its inclinedposition within the building. I i

Fig. '7 is an inside elevation of the portions shown in Fig; f of thedrawings, beingin the nature of an enlarged section line 1-4 in' Fig. 1of the. drawings.

Fig, 3 is "an enlarged detail fragmentary view,

being in the nature of a section on line 8-B in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

Fig. 9 is a similar view, but showing the parts in different positions.

Fig.10 is an inside view or elevation of the compIete door, showingportionsof the garage building in vertical section.

Fig. 11 is a detail cross section, on a larger scale, of one of theoverheadtubuiar tracks in which the springs are enclosed. I i

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11, but showing a different form ofthe invention.

.As thus illustrated, the door comprises the four sections I, 2;, 3 and4 that are hinged together by hinges 5 at their horizontal meeting inFig. 11 of the drawings, but each cylindrical track having alongitudinal slot III at its inner side. The upper and lower endsofthedoors are provided with wheels or rollers II that also travel in saidtracks, being carried by brackets mounted on the door.

The uppermost section I :of the door is, as previously explained, hingedto the section 2 of the door, so that the upper edge portion of thissection I is, free to swing outwardly into vertical or closed positionand is free to swing inwardly into an inclined position, as shown moreclearly in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Preferably, the upper edge of thesection I is provided with a' latchbolt I2 for engagement with a bracketI3 fastened to the top of the doorway, so that when the door is closed,this uppermost section I of thedoor will automatically be latched inclosed position. To unlatch the uppermost section of, the door, a handleI4 is swiveled on thesection '2 of the door, and the inner end portionof the said handle 'is provided with a crank-arm I5 which .in cushioningthe opening and closing of the section 2 of the door. In addition, thispivot 22, of each link 2|, Works into and out of the notch 25 in thebracket 26 fastened to the doorway. It will be seen that the notch 25 ofeach bracketplate, there being one at each side of the doorway, islonger on its lower edge 'so that the notch is shorter on its upper edgethan at its lower edge. Preferablythe slot 23 of each plate 24 bulgestoward the door near its lower end as it is .found that this formationhas a beneficial action door. The bulge in the slot 23 positions thepivot 22 at thejinner end of the notch 25, as shown in Fig. 9, whilethes'traight lower portion of the slot 23 pulls the pivot out ofengagement with said notch, as shown in Fig. 8, whereby the door' isthen ready to' go up into its overhead open position. This constructioneases the action, so

I to speak, and prevents the uppermost section I is connected bya-chainI6 with the'lower end of the said latch-bolt. In this-way, the handle I4, the latch-bolt is disengaged from the bracketor strike-piece I3 andthe door will then automatically move to substantially horizontal openposition.

Between the upper ends of the track sections'8 and-the outer ends of thetracksections 9, there are track sections I60 that are formed inaspecial manner, as more clearly shown in Figs. 1,.2, 3 and 4 of thedrawings. Each track section IE0 is composed of two straight portions I1 and I 8 and anintermediatecurved portion I 9 and it will be observedthat the straight portion I8 is preferably the same length as'thestraight portion I1, and the ends of these two sections I60,

I one at each side'of the doorway, can be welded by rotating orotherwise suitably fastened to the ends of the vertical and horizontaltracks. The special form thus provided for the two sections I 60, it isfound by actual experience, insures a smoother and easier and bettermotion or movement of the door. into its open position, andthereafter'into its closed-position. The door is shown'in' its openposition in Fig; fl: of the drawings where itwill be seen that itoccupies a horizontal plane vertically at the tops of the horizontaltracks. In other words, the action'of the wheels or rollers on the dooris much improved by the provision of these track sections I68 in theform shown anddescribed, and the actionis much better than would be thecase if these sections I 60 were formed with one curve from end to endwith a single radius. a

Another feature which is of special importance is the manner in whichthe uppermost section I of the door is automatically controlled in itsopening and closing movements. For this purpose, there is a pivot 20 oneach upper corner of the door, that is connected by a link 2| with apivot 22, which latter works up and down in a slot 23 in a bracket-plate2 4 fastened to the formed tracksections.

;jolting or jarring or violent action when from closing violently with ajerk or a slam when it moves outwardly laterally toward the door frame.When thefdoor is latched in vertical or closed position, the notch 25 ofthe two plates- 26 holds the mummy against any upward movement. a Forautomatically opening the door when un;

latched, and for pulling. the door into itsfopen overhead position, apair of coil springs are used, one in each ofthe overhead-tracks 9. Theends of these springs 21 are connected by 'a pairof I section}, as shownin the drawings. Each link 28 is made double, as it is composed of twobars that. are

links 28 with the pivots 2 9 on the door spread apart at their lowerends. and bent tosgether at their upper ends. The upper ends of theselinks 28' are connected to wheels orrolle'rs 1 30 that travel in theoverheadtracks and that are in turn'connectjed to the said springs 21con tained in saidtracks. The innermost ends of .said springs maybefastened in placein' any suitable or desired manner, as by bolts -3Iinsorted through spaced holes in the overhead 3 tracks. This providesadjustment for the spring. Thus, these springs arealways inside of,saidoverheadtracks and arefnever extended therefrom, and hencethese springscannot sag or move up and down, but can only have extension endwise andhorizontally inside of said tracks. The springs are stretched to theirfull capacity when the door is in'closed position, as shown in Fig.1 ofthe drawings, but the stretch is ,practically all out of the springswhen the door assumes its overhead'ope'n position, against the bumpersprings 32, and in this way there is no reaches its final open position.

It will be seen that the door starts moving upward practically as soonas, the upper section thereof is unlatched andthat such movement;cause's the first wheels or rollers on the doorto enter the straightportions I? of the specially and 3 of the drawings, and this actioncauses the links 2I to pull the section I over into an in-;clinedposition, as the pivots 22 are at such time not. out ofthenotches25 of the. two bracketplates fastened to the door frame. However,as

soon as the section I reaches, the position shown in Fig. 6 of thedrawings, the springs 21 then exert a pull that raises the door to anextent that the slots 23 move the pivots22 out of the notches 25, sothat the door is then free to move I the door I I 69, as indicated inFigs; 2

in the notches25,

as shown in Fig. '9 or the drawings, at a. moment when it is importantthat this be done the proper and desired action of the door.

In Fig. 12, the modification shows adiiferent of being cylindrical, andin the 'door h'as' two rollers 33 rests-seer the one roller shown inFig. 11 of the drawings. Thus, in any form of the invention, the pivots22 are at the tops of the slots 23 when the door is in closed position,as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, and the said pivots are at the sameends of the said slots when the door is in open position, as shown inFig. 4 of the drawings. This is true, of course, regardless of the formof the overhead tracks, for in each case the same control devices areemployed for controlling the action of the uppermost section of thedoor, in the opening and closing of the latter.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a garage door construction in which the door is of the sectionalform in which the horizontal sections are hinged together at theirhorizontal meeting edges, vertical tracks for the sides of theadoorway,horizontally disposed tracks overhead, and intermediate track sectionsconnecting the upper ends of the vertical tracks with the outer ends ofthe horizontally disposed tracks, each intermediate track section havina middle curved portion and having straight end portions, together withmeans on the door for engaging said tracks and track sections.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, the upper straight portion beinglonger than the lower straight portion.

3. In a garage or other door construction in which the door is ofsections hinged together at their horizontal meeting edges, a verticaltrack and a horizontal overhead track interconnected with said verticaltrack, said overhead track being tubular, means carried by certain ofthe door sections adapted to travel in said tubular track to guide thedoor sections from vertical closed position to substantially horizontaloverhead open position, and spring means housed within the tubularoverhead track and connected to the door and contracting within saidtubulartrack to lift the door.

i. In a garage or other door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged together at their horizontal meeting edges, a vertical track anda tubular horizontal track having interconnecting track portions, meanscarried by certain of the door sections to travel on the internal wallof said tubular track to guide the door sections from verticall closedposition to substantially horizontal overhead open position, elongatedspring means housed in said tubular horizontal track in advance of saidmeans and having one end anchored in said tubular track and having itsopposite portion connected to one of the door sections.

5. In a garage or other door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged together at their horizontal meeting edges, vertical andhorizontal tracks having interconnecting track portions, said horizontaltracks being tubular in cross section and open at one side, an elongatedspring housed within the tracks and having one end thereof anchoredadjacent one end of the tracks, the opposite end of the sprin beingconnected with a door section, and means carried by certain of the doorsections, including lateral extensions passing through the openings ofthe tracks, and

rollers 'on'isaid extensions rolling within s'aid' tracks as saidelongated spring contracts iniliftmg -thefdoor sections toosubstantiallyhorizontal open position. I I

Inia, garage 'or'nther door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged'toge'ther at. horizontal" meeting edges, vertical and horizontaltraclcsrfor. interconnecting track portions, said horizontal" tracksbeing tubular in cross section and provided at their outer ends withspaced registering holes adapted to receive an anchorage bolt, anelongated spring housed within said tubular tracks and having one endconnected to said bolt, and means connecting the other end of the springto a door section.

'7. In a garage or other door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged together at horizontal meeting edges, vertical and horizontaltracks for interconnecting track portions, said horizontal tracksbeingtubular in cross section, an elongated spring housed within saidtubular tracks and having one end connected to anchorage means, andmeans connecting the other end of the spring to a door section, andresilient bumper means mounted on the exterior wall 01' said tubulartracks and adapted to be contacted by the leading end of the foremostdoor section when the doors are moved to open position.

8. In a garage or other door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged together at horizontal meeting edges, vertical and horizontaltracks for interconnecting track portions, said overhead track beingtubular except for a longitudinal opening in the side thereof, and anelongated coil spring housed in said tubular track which spring whenreleased, in cross section is substantially of the same cross section,but slightly smaller, than the inner cross section of the tubular track,said spring having one end anchored in said tubular track and the otherend connected to a door section, and roller means carried by certain ofthe door sections and passing through the side lots in the tubular trackand rolling along an inner surface of said track, said Y rollers indiameter corresponding substantially to the inner diameter of thetubular track.

9. In a garage or other door in which the door is composed of sectionshinged together at horizontal meeting edges, vertical and horizontaltracks for interconnecting track portions, said horizontal tracks beingtubular in cross section, said tubular tracks being substantiallyrectangular in cross section and provided with a longitudinal openingalong one side, the inner walls of said tubular tracks providing spacedhorizontally disposed tracks, means carried by certain of the doorsections extending therefrom and passing through the longitudinalopening in the side of said track, and spaced rollers on saidextensions, said rollers rolling on the bottom wall portions of saidtracks, and elongated spring means enclosed within said tubular tracks,one

end of the spring means being anchored therein and the other end of thespring means being connected to a door section.

10. In a garage door having horizontally hinged sections, thecombination of a door frame, track means affixed thereto having verticaland horizontal sections and an interconnecting section along which thedoor is adapted to move, bearing means carried by certain of the doorsections adapted to run in said track means, spring means mounted in thehorizontal track section and interconnected with the door, for

pulling the door upwardly to open position along said track.

11. In a garage or other door construction wherein the door is composedof horizontally hinged sections, .a door frame including vertical andhorizontal tracks having interconnected track portions, certain of thedoor sectionshaving bearing means adapted to run' in said tracks,

power spring means disposed in the horizontal track, said spring meanshaving one end an. chored, another portion of the spring means be ingconnected by means of a link to one of the door sections, the uppermostdoor section being free to swing from a vertical closed position to aninwardly inclined position during the upward movement of the doorsections by the spring. WILLIAM D. FERRIS. CECIL R. WOLF.

